Election Anxiety, Women at Work and Quitting Workaholism: What I’m Reading

If you have read these columns for any length of time, you will know that I am very Type A. I make plans, I make backup plans. I make backup contingencies. This week did not go according to plan. It was better.

It started with me struggling with a last-minute change in routine and it led to an unexpected visit from family and masons fixing our front porch. I’m deep into the throes of next week’s meal plan and my next home improvement project. Then I remind myself to put my plans on pause and enjoy the glorious weather by spending the day at the beach.

Regardless of your penchant for planners, I hope you are able to spend time doing something you enjoy and consider changing your viewpoint (or, at least are willing to consider a new perspective) after reading these articles that gave me pause this week.

Until next time, stay safe and be well!

Election Anxiety

A majority of Americans (73%) reported feeling anxious about the election, according to a survey from the American Psychological Association back in May. No matter who you’re planning on voting for, I think we can all agree that tensions will likely rise as November 5 draws nearer.

We know that when you clock in to work, you don’t leave your problems behind. The same is true for politics. Even if you don’t explicitly discuss policies, platforms or candidates, it’s difficult not to bring those thoughts, fears and anxieties into the workplace. It’s not unreasonable to expect that colleagues might have less patience or tempers may flare because of the election.

Perhaps, to a certain extent, that’s to be expected. To paraphrase Rag’n’Bone Man, we’re only human, after all.

But we still need to coexist, especially in the workplace. That’s where this Fast Company article from Tarun Galagali and Dr. Amy Cirbus of Mandala for Us Inc, an organization that provides management training to workplaces and universities, can come into play.

Gagagali and Cirbus help managers and leaders by asking them three fundamental questions: How do you manage yourself? How do you manage others? And how do you manage this changing ecosystem?

This is even more important when it comes to politics, it can be difficult to navigate the terrain. In the article, Gagagali and Cirbus offer some specific actions and statements designed to reduce tensions, have fruitful interactions and maintain civility. At a time when so much feels out of your control, it’s important to remember that workplaces—and their leaders—can set the tone and serve as an example of how to navigate our election anxieties, together.

Read the full article here.

Women at Work

Growing up, I was told I could do anything. I read Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead. I heard thought leaders and news commentators champion the unprecedented numbers of women in leadership positions. I saw societal movements and outrage that changed what and how we talk about women.

But a decade-long study has found that it hasn’t been enough to make a substantial difference. The study was based on workforce data of more than 1,000 companies since 2015, the largest ongoing effort to measure women's advancement within large corporations.

Vanessa Fuhrmans aptly summarized the landscape for The Wall Street Journal: “Women hold more of the top jobs in companies than ever before, but they lag behind men on crucial early promotions into management— holding them back from greater power at work.”

As a woman in the workforce, the findings hit me like a punch to the gut. Progress has been made over the last several years, but there has been backpedaling, too. Last year, the Census Bureau reported the first statistically significant decrease in the female-to-male earnings ratio in two decades. The number of employers that reported gender diversity was a high priority fell to 78% this year from 87% in 2019.

The gender disparity will not resolve itself. As the data shows, unless we collectively make a concerted effort to change the status quo, it’s all to easy to revert back to our old ways.

Read more about the study findings here.

Quitting Workaholism

For better, but mostly for worse, a large part of our identity is shaped by our work: our chosen profession, our title. And, it seems, the more people we supervise, the more emails we send and receive, the busier we are, the more we are respected in society. In other words, workaholism is a proud badge of status.

However, we know that working too many hours can have adverse effects on a person’s physical, mental and emotional well-being. There’s a reason why we talk about work-life balance.

Malissa Clark writes about how to break the cycle and unlearn toxic work behaviors in a deep dive for Harvard Business Review. She provides charts, prompts and corrective action for people who have a difficult time separating the professional and the personal.

Still not convinced? Try counting the number of people who said they wished they worked more, then try counting the number of people who said they wished they worked less. I can think of only a few for the former but I host track trying to count the latter.

I highly encourage you to read Clark’s advice here, then put it into practice this weekend.